Digital Comics

I thought, for my last blog entry, that I would do it over something that I love. The truth is, I love comic books and they are evolving in this digital age. Marvel is the biggest proponent of this new way to read comics and offers this service in a subscription model. For $60 a year or $10 a month, you can have access to all of their comics that they have put online and they continue to update. Marvel also makes Motion comics. Motion comics literally add motion to comic books and occasionally voice acting. This makes a comic book a step in between a comic and a cartoon. I think this is a very cool way to read/watch your favorite comic books. If you search on Google, you can find many people speculating that this will eventually overtake print comics but I think that collectors and casual readers will always enjoy having a physical copy and I view this as more of something to go along with physical comics than as a way to replace it. The PSP system now offers digital comics on the handheld that you can take with you and read anywhere. I hope that this industry continues to grow and I am very excited to see where it goes.

Digital Explosion

I searched digital explosion on Google and found Digital Explosion, another website design firm. I felt that this company has some pretty interesting designs and has done something that I didn't even know could be done. First off, the intro video was very interesting. It seems to be a good way to introduce people to your website and encourage them to keep looking. I also found it interesting that this company does many different types of design, such as billboards and logos along with websites. I think that this is quite unique, at least in my searches that I have done so far, I don't see as many companies that do print and digital design. I don't know why exactly more companies don't do this, but I'm sure that many of the principles translate from one to the other. The website is a little to busy and could have possibly used some better design, but the work that this company has done is pretty impressive.

digital storm

I searched digital storm on Google and found Digital Storm Online. This website sells computers that are built specifically for gaming and offer a lot of different designs and features. I have always found these computers overpriced, but that doesn't really have anything to do with this post. Anyway, the designs for these computers always seem a little more "intense" than computers that aren't designed for gaming. You can see this from Alienware. also. I'm sure that this design brings up the price a little but that isn't really my concern. I think that this shows that gaming is still not taken seriously by a lot of companies that design things specifically for gaming. Words such as cool, extreme, hardcore, get thrown around and more led lights than necessary are used just to make the thing glow and look "sweet". I think that it is time that these companies take the lead because video games are a huge earner now and outsell movies in gross. I think that it is time to start treating the products and the industry with more respect... but that doesn't mean that I don't want one of these totally rad machines.

Digital Wish

I searched digital wish on oogle and found something that could be very helpful to a lot of people. Digital Wish is a website that allows someone to donate money or technologies to a classroom. Basically, a teacher creates a wish list on the website and people that want to donate register on the website and help the teachers meet their wishes. The site claims to want to update the classroom to the 21st century. This charity seems legitimate, and if it is, I think that this is a very important thing to do for underprivileged schools or children. Children most certainly need to be familiar and able to use digital technology quite well if they want to succeed in the world. Of course, all of these things could be learned later in life, but I believe, at least in my experience, it's easier to grasp onto concepts as a child than it is as an adult. I looked around a little more on digital charities and found a couple that donate laptops, computers, and various different technology to schools and children. This is a very worthwhile idea and I think it deserves more spotlight than it currently gets.

Digital Harassment

I searched digital harassment on Google and found something fairly interesting. I found an article from the New York Times that talks about three teenagers that had sent their boyfriends naked pictures of themselves and gotten charged with disseminating child porn. The boyfriends were charged with possessing child porn. This is an interesting story in itself and I've heard about this before, on the news and from friends. I personally think that it is wrong to charge these children with a crime, but I digress. My real point is that I think that this is just one of the many new criminal activities that we face in the digital age. I think the first time that I noticed a new illegal activity on the internet is when Napster became popular. While I was looking around, I even found that people try to sell in game gold or items in games such as World of Warcraft for real life money. As these games become more popular, I would think that shady ordeals such as this will increase. I also think that people enjoy exploiting there technology and making it do anything that it can which can obviously lead to legal ramifications.

Digital Fish

Digital fish is what I chose to search on Google and I was able to find out about something that I didn't really know much at all about. Geofish.net is a website that tracks little fishes. These things are planted by participants and locations are uploaded to the website. Then, with the help of a GPS, someone is supposed to go and find this little fish. I think that this really goes along well with our game lectures and assignment. This really reminds me of digital hide and go seek and it's a way to use an existing technology in a way that it probably wasn't intended. I looked up geocaching on Wikipedia and apparently this is much like a 150 year old game called "letterboxing". This game uses uses clues and references to landmarks embedded in stories. I read on the entry that most of the geocaches are of low monetary value and have some sort of personal meaning to the person that is leaving the cache. There are geocaches in every continent and this is a pretty popular activity. I believe that this presents a good ways to get outdoors and still have fun with technology.

Digital Jerk

I searched digital jerk on Google and came up with something unexpected. I found an article from MSNBC that talks about "Gadgets That Make You Look Like a Jerk." I think that it is very interesting that a piece of technology can make you look like a jerk, but then again, I suppose people are judged for what they wear and say constantly, so it isn't that far fetched. The first piece of technology that they mentioned was the Blackberry. This is because some people seem to be addicted to using it and even will use it during conversation. The next was Bluetooth. This is because people wear them constantly and, according to MSNBC, it either makes you look crazy (like you're talking to yourself) or like you think that you are really important because you always have to be talking. The next ones were Tivo, Macbook air and Ipod accessories. The last two were Linux and Segway. Of course this list is meant in a humorous way, but I still think that it has some merit and is something that deserves to be thought about when designing technology.

Digital Popcorn

I searched for digital popcorn on Google and ran across something that sparked my interest. Digital Popcorn is a blog that reviews movies from all different eras. I find this so interesting because it led me to think about how everyone has a place to review whatever they want on the internet. Whether it be comments on a post on a message board or their own personal review website. Personally, my favorite review website is Rotten Tomatoes. This site takes many critics reviews for a movie and combines them into a percentage that represents the consensus of critics across the globe. This isn't just for movies either, Metacritic does these types of reviews for basically all digital media. I believe that this presents a great way for customers to make an informed decision on purchases and to see what the critics thought without reading a bunch of different reviews. These sites seem to be great but I actually found an article stating that Metacritic might be damaging the games industry. Apparently, some companies are becoming so concerned with scores, that they are developing their business strategy around it. I found this very interesting and I had no idea that these seemingly innocent scores meant something very profound for the industry.

Digital Kick

I searched digital kick on Google and I found an incredible site. Digitalkick.com is a website that blends old school graphics and sounds with a very competent internet site. I think that this goes to something that we were talking about in class once. Prof. Mannheimer asked us what time is the internet, and I think this goes to show that even a single website can exist in multiple times at once. The site even says when you click to enter, "Enter Our Classical Site". This also made me think of the Wayback Machine that was shown in class. You can look up almost any website and see different points of its existence. This is cool for multiple reasons to me. For one, you can look at websites that no longer exist and I think that it is also fun to look at great looking websites now, and see what they looked like years ago. Internet design has come a long way and I'm sure that it will go even further in the coming years.

Digital Pie

I found an article on Google that questions, "Who gets the biggest piece of the digital pie." This begins by dealing with, specifically, Canadian publishing. I think that this article is fairly interesting and a decent read, but it made me wonder what companies are banking the most off of digital distribution. In 2008, Itunes made $3.34 billion. This is the largest earner in digital distribution of music. Video game digital distribution makes around $1-2 billion. I think that this is a very interesting idea. Instead of having to go through a bunch of channels like someone would have to do years ago, now an artist can get their art distributed on the internet in a much easier fashion. Regardless of the independent artists that get better exposure, now the consumer has more options and convenience than ever. This is very important. There are so many ways that a consumer can now use or purchase media, that designers have a much better chance at having a popular piece of media. Many companies are putting a huge focus and many resources into digital distribution. There is a big debate on the internet regarding whether this is the future or not. I definitely think it is. As broadband penetration goes up and up, people are probably going to want to use the most convenient way to get their media as possible.

Digital Party

I searched digital party and was pretty surprised at what I found. I found an article from Fox Business regarding a tequila company's website. Apparently the El Jimador website began to offer a party planner. This website will help and guide you to make a successful party, of course with their product being used. This is pretty much just a marketing gimmick, but I still think that it is pretty interesting. I believe that the party has been fundamentally changed with the advent of the internet. You can now have access to a larger amount of people to attend and many more options when it comes to theme ideas, snack ideas, games, etc. One might question how this relates to design, but parties are something that is designed and the digital age is making this process much easier. I remember a service called e-vite that would send digital invitations but now this can be done while you are on Facebook or a number of other social networks. You can basically plan a party from start to finish all online, and I believe that this is a huge time saver. You can throw a party and never leave your house. I find it funny that you can host one of the most social things that a person can do and do it all from alone at the desk. If you are ever planning a party, I suggest that you try to do it online. It will probably make your life a whole lot easier.

Digital Carpet

Digital Carpet, found by using a Google search, is an extremely interesting technology to me. It's basically an interactive surface that can be walked on. It uses a projection system to project the image on the floor and sensors to detect what the user is doing. The creator said that they are working on ways to upgrade the technology to suit the users needs more than they do now and want to base what the user sees on preferences and the way they use the system. I don't imagine this as something being used in a home, but it would be perfect for advertising. What better way to get a potential customer's attention than to use something like this? I also thought it was interesting that they proposed using this for kids. I think that kids would have a ball with this technology and I could easily imagine this as something that is someday in a school for the children to play with. I think that this is a baby technology at the moment, however, and could definitely use some more improvements but it seems to be heading in the right direction. After searching online for interactive floor, I found that other companies do make similar technologies, but they all seem to be at about the same level of sophistication. I think that the systems definitely need some better sensor equipment to detect the users better and simply some more market saturation. I think that once people start to notice this technology we will be seeing it much more often.

Digital Freedom

Digital Freedom is a website, which I found from a Google search, that deals with the rights a person should have as a digital creator. The website describes a creator as anyone who relies on digital technology to create or even people who post videos to Youtube or put music on their profile page. The site claims that companies are trying to shut down new technologies that, in themselves, have nothing to do with copyright infringement and can be a good platform for creators to distribute their work. I believe the site, although I didn't see them explicitly say this, is also talking about file sharing programs. These can clearly be used without piracy and can be a good platform to share work. The site also mentions litigation on people who use existing works and make them their own. Song mash-ups would be an example of this. I think that these creators should be protected because these people are making this content their own, and the company with the copyright shouldn't be able to infringe on the project. I have heard of this issue before and I think that it is something that is very important for a digital creator of any sort. I haven't heard or seen on the site any examples of people being prosecuted for this before, but I know that it could someday be a possibility. I think that the "mash-up" culture and other digital artforms are unique and companies should have no say in what creators do if they make something their own work.

Digital Death

I suppose I was feeling a little morbid and I searched Digital Death on Google and found this site. The article is titled "How to Prepare for Your Digital Death" and I found it so interesting because it is something that I, and I'm sure many others, have never considered. In this digital age, with all of the status updates and emails, if you were to suddenly die, someone would have to manage notification and managing what you had put online. Even though this is such a strange thing to imagine, I think it pertains to design in quite a literal sense. Many people I know post to many different message boards and create a whole list of different things and put them online. If you were to die, would you want something that you made in five minutes to be left as a legacy to you? I probably wouldn't, but the internet is pretty much permanent or at least more permanent than any other form of media that I know of. The things that you create could possibly never go away. Something that you put on the web 5 years ago can probably still be found. I think that this is a responsibility that every creator should take into consideration. I recommend that people be sure that they are proud of their work before they post it online, because you never know how long it's going to be around.

Digital Water

I searched digital water on Google and ran across something interesting again. The Digital Water Pavilion was created by MIT with a couple other companies and can dynamically change and display images and text and take on many different shapes. I find this so interesting because I've never heard of anything like this existing before. When I think of water, I in no way relate it to current technology. The article also says that this can actually be used in an urban environment and can let people interact with this. According to the website, this has many implications for the future of architecture. Here is a link to watch the Pavilion in action. I think that it is very interesting that water can be used as a display or in architecture. However gimmicky this may be now, this could really have a future and I'm excited to see what that might be. I would really like to see this implemented into theme parks at this point but in the future this could serve as an actual option when you are designing a building.

Digital Monkey

I searched digital monkey on Google and ran across the site Digital Monkey Box. This is not really a pretty site and it probably doesn't get much traffic but I love websites such as this. It offers information on video games in the form of a blog like Joystiq or Kotaku and also contains a snarky feel, much like Joystiq and Kotaku. The reason that I chose to talk about this is because a ton of these sites exist and I think that it is a good way for fans to contribute to what they are passionate about. Fan sites have been in existant since the inception of the internet, but I don't think there were many ways to voice your opinion to the whole world on the subject that you were a fan of before the internet. I think that this really speaks to the digital age because this is something that you simply couldn't do before. For example, The Superman Homepage is a modest site but it gets pretty good traffic and I love visiting there. It started off modestly and has grown over the years to be a comprehensive website on anything related to Superman. Websites such as these allow other fans to have a place to talk about what they are passionate about and to interact with fellow fans. I think that this is something very unique to the internet and is something that couldn't exist without it. These sites seem to usually be in blog form and feature news on their subject. I do think, however, that many of these sites are very plain and boring in a design way. It seems like many of the people running these sites only care about the content opposed to the design. Of course, there are exceptions, but this has been my general experience. However, this is a great way to break into the industry that you love, or at least have a place to sound off.

Digital Love

After much deliberation, I decided to search digital love on Google and didn't get as strange of results as I originally expected. I immediately found and interesting article that discusses online dating websites from The Washington Post. The article discusses how some people are dissatisfied with sites such as EHarmony because they provide matches for users just by matching people based on surveys that they fill out. This, apparently, leads to people who aren't really that good of a match. The article then goes on to tell about a virtual environment where two people met and are now living together. Being a gamer, I have heard about this, and seen this, a few times. Although this is a site devoted to providing a place for users to flirt it seems like any massively multiplayer online game presents the same options. Here is an article that discusses marriages of people who met on World of Warcraft. I agree with the article that it would be much more desirable to meet someone in a virtual environment, such as a video game, than through some sort of singles website. I think the simulation of seeing a physical being is much more attractive than just a picture and a profile. I think, if it doesn't already exist, that someone should devote an online mmo space for singles. It should be a respectable place that users can meet and chat and find out more about each other. I really wish I was in this business right now, because I think that could make someone a lot of money.

Digital Frog

This is just one of those things where I really can't believe that it even exists and it never entered my mind. I searched digital frog on Google and found Digital Frog International which specializes in digital frog dissection. I suppose, if I would have put some thought into it wouldn't shock me that a program existed to digitally dissect a frog, but I never thought of it as a business. According to their website, their company did start by a simple program that they developed to digitally dissect frogs and has grown into a company that supplies many different types of educational software. When you look at the screen shots of the services, it is most certainly not a Halo game but, according to this website, this software has been very profitable and was at least profitable enough to start a whole company and to have been in business for almost 15 years now. I think that this is so impressive because it seems like such a strange way to start a company, but I suppose that if you have a good idea that anything can happen. I think that this also speaks very well to something like the Iphone App store. The reason I say this, is because unique software such as this has a much wider audience. Someone can create something in their basement and build a whole company around it. This is very encouraging to me and I'm sure that it is to everyone who wants to get involved with software development.

Digital Spike

I searched digital spike on Google and came up with what seems to be a pretty interesting web design company. Digital Spike has a pretty impressive website and, I think, represents the company quite well. They have a portfolio of what they've done and contact information so you can pay them to start working immediately. No matter how much I like this site, It seems like a ton of sites like this exist with people offering to do the same exact thing. You can look up web design companies and find a huge list. I looked up web design companies on Google and clicked on a few different links and noticed that all of these sites, the ones that I saw at least, have great websites and claim that they can do anything for you. I think that the market has definitely been over saturated but there are still a lot of great design firms. After looking through this list of the "best" design firms you can really see that the industry is focused on flashy graphics and simplicity. I think that this has been the trend for a while and will probably continue for the foreseeable future. I'm also seeing a lot of movement, which I think is a relatively new thing to web design. A few years ago, I thought it was "awesome" when something on a web page would actually react to something I did. Now, it is to be expected from the bigger websites. Anyway, I definitely recommend looking through the top ten list and see how you react to them.